Coin-controlled clock



Jan. 5,1926. 7 1,568,564

- C. MALOUF ET AL com c'ongRoLLED cpocx Filed Nov. 25, 1921 IIVI/E/VTUR 57/3050. a 0

A TTORNEYS Patented Jan. 5, 1926.

czmnmzs mmvrimn l fic'liotAs MAnoui cH-IcAGo, IIQIJ-noisr xiipi'iizitioh ma Novenb-er 25, 192i; seriaiimi 517,575,

and Nwnoms Mnnoiil 'iboth citizens ofthe' United States, and resident of city cf Chicago; in the co'uhty 6f Cook and State of Illinois; have" invented a and use- 111- Impiovemeht in Goin cdnti olled Clocks, of which the' following is a full, clear, and exact description.

in coin controlled clocks, and consists in the c'o'n'iblnatlons constructions, and ar- I r ii-rm. rangementshermn (lGSCI'lbBCl and claimed An object of our invention is to provide" an improvement over that form ot th'e dfe vice shown in our co-pending a'ppli'Qjji j' filed November 25, 1921, Serial N 0 517,576. In said application there is' disclos e d a coin controlled clock in which the winding stein is prevented from rotation either direction unless a coin is inserted in the boX.

It is obvious thereforethat only a certain type of clock can be used with this device, i. e., clock in which the winding stem does not rotate in a dire ction opposite to the winding direction when the clock is'runs ning. The construction of the present vice' is primarily designed to obviate the necessity of having to use only a certain type of clock, that is, this device can be used with aclock in which the stemrotates as the clock unwinds; p

A further object of our invention is to provide a device of the type described in which the winding stem still held in locked position when only pennies "inserted' in the device, thus compelling the person owning the: clock to periodically insert' coins of a larger denomination than that of a penny in order to keep the clock.

.7 A. V c

A further object of our lnvent on i's to provide a device otthe' ch racter; described which consists of a number of parts, is inexp ns'ive to' manura mr 'tnc which is not1ike1y' to easi et out of rde Other objects and advantages will appear inure following s ecification, and the never features' of the inve iit ion will be articularly pointed out in the appended claims;

Ourinvention is illustrated in the 06615 panyi ngjdrdwings; fdfnfingpart of this applicationfln Figure 1 is a section along the line 1- 1 of Figure 2, and

Our inventron relates to iniprov'eii ents Figure 2"is a section along the line 2 -2 of Figure 1.

In carrying out our invention, we provide' a casing 1 in which'ris'mounted a clock mechanism indicated genefiauy at 2.. The clock mechanism? isprovided with the" o'rdi nary winding stem 3, which projects through the'rear wall 4 ofthe casing 1, The winding stem 3 is adapted tobe rotated in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1 when the clockj is wound and torotate' in the direction opposite to the direction of the arrow when the clock spring is unwinding.

The clock forms no part of our invention except in so far as it cooperates with the parts about to be described.

. A star wh eel 5 is rigidly mounted to the I stem 3' and is adapted to rotate therewith. The casing 1 is provided with an inclined coin chute ,6 which is curved at the lower endthereof. A wall 7 of the chute 6 is cut away for a portion of the length thereof and a coin is prevented from moving through this cut away portion by means of an arm 9 and a doglO. As will be seen Figures 1 and 2, the arm 9 is rigidly mounted on a stub shaft 11 which is in turn rotatably" mounted in the rearwall 4:. A spring 12 1s secured to the free end of the arm 9 and to the casing 1. In like manner, the dog 10 is mounted on a stub shaft 13 which is carried by, the rear wall 4:. The spring 14 normally keeps-the dog 10 in engagement with a lug 15, the latter being carried by the wall 4:. The dog 10 has one of its sides pro-' vided with two curved portions 16 and 17 for a purpose hereafter described. The arm 9 can be manually swung downwardly into the chute 6 by means of a handle 18. v

A means for normally preventing the rotation of the starwheel 5 in the direction of the arrow and for permitting a rotation thereof in the opposite direction provided and comprises a sector 19 which is pivotelly mounted on a rod 20, the latter being carried by the wall 4. I The sector 19 carries a pawl 21 which is adapted to engage the teeth of the star wheel 5 so as to normally prevent the'rotation of the wheel in the di-' rection of the arrow. The pawl 21 5 pf i c e l the e r m i h is, adapted to'i est' on one" edge or the 19". The sector 19 also carries a" leaifs priiig" 22 which engages the lug 23. A spring 24 has one of its ends secured to apin 25 and its other end to the sector 19 and is adapted to keep the pawl 21 in engagement with the star wheel 5. One edge of the sector 19 has a hook-like projection 26 integral therewith and which is adapted to be engaged by a pawl 27. As will be seen in Figure 1, the pawl 27 is pivotally mounted on a pin 28. A leaf spring 29 yieldingly keeps the pawl 27 in engagement with the sector 19. A toothed wheel 30 is rotatably carried by the pawl 27 and is disposed adjacent the free end thereof.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood. In case the clock has to be wound, a coin, such as a nickel, is first inserted in the chute 6. The coin will drop to the position shown in Figure l and will rest against the dog 10 and the side 31 of the chute. The handle 18 is then rotated in an anti-clockwise direction, thus causing the arm 9 to swing downwardly into the chute 6 and to force the coin out. of the chute 6 and into the casing 1. This operation swings the dog 10 about the rod 13. The coin in passing out of the chute 6 strikes the sector 19 and swings it in a clockwise direction against the tension of the spring 24. The sector 19 carries with it the pawl 21 and it will therefore be seen that the star wheel 5 is freed and is permitted to rotate in the direction of the arrow, thereby permitting the stem 3 to be rotated so as to wind the clock. The pawl 21 is held out of engagement with the wheel 5, since the pawl 27 engages with the projection 26 and prevents the sector 19 from resuming its normal position. As the clock 2 starts unwinding, the stem 3 and the wheel 5 will be rotated in a clockwise direction. One of the teeth on the wheel 5 will therefore abut against one of the teeth of the wheel 30 and will swing the wheel 30 with the pawl 27 against the tension of the spring 29, thereby releasing the sector 19 and permitting the spring 24: to return it to its normal position. When the sector 19 assumes its normal position, the pawl 21 engages with the feeth on the wheel 5 and prevents the 1' tation of the wheel 5 in the direction of the arrow until another coin has been inserted into the chute 6. It is obvious, however, that the wheel 5 is permitted to rotate with the stem 8 as the clock unwinds, since the pawl 21 will be moved outwardly against the tens on of the spring 22 as the teeth of the wheel 5 move beneath the pawl. lVhen the pawl 27 is swung into engagement with the sector 19 re as to tree the pawl 21 from the wheel 5, the rotation of the wheel 5,

which is cau ed by winding the clock, will merely rotate the wheel 30. ()n the other hand, the wheel 30 is so constructed that when the wheel 5 rotates in a clockwise direction, it will not rotate the wheel 30 but will move the latter with the .pawl 27 against the tension of the spring 29 as heretofore described.

Assume that a penny is dropped into the chute 6 insteadof a nickel or a coin of a larger denomination. The penny being larger in diameter than a dime will fall into the curved portion 17 of the dog 10. The arm 9 can now be swung by means of the handle 18 and will eject the penny from the chute 6. Since the penny is received in the curved portion 17 of the dog 10, the penny will not strike the sector 19 so as to rotate the latter, since the diameter of the penny is not large enough to abut the curvedportion 17 and the sector 19. Coins of larger diameters, such as nickels, quarters, etc., will be received in the curved portion 17 of the dog 10 and will swing the sector 19 when they are ejected from the chute 6 by means of the arm 9. The curved portion 16 of the dog 10 is adapted to receive a dime and as will be seen in Figure 1, is disposed nearer the sector 19 than is the curved portion 17. Therefore, when the dime is ejected from the chute 6 by means of the arm 9, the diameter of the dime is large enough to abut the curved portion and the sector 19 at the same time. It will therefore be apparent that we have provided a device in which a coin of a larger denomination than a penny has to be periodically deposited therein betore the clock can be wound. It will also be apparent that the device automatically resets itself after the clock has been running for a short length of time.

We claim:

The combination with a clock having a winding stem, said stem rotating in a reverse directionto said winding direction when said clock is unwinding, of a toothed wheel carried by said stem, a casing, a sector pivotally carried by said casing, a pawl carried by said sector and normally engaging said wheel for preventing said stem from rotating to wind said clock, a coin chute carried by said casing, a movable stop mem ber for stopping a coin, a manually operated arm adapted to move said coin into engagement with said sector, whereby said sector is swung and releases said pawl from said wheel, a second pawl adapted to lock said sector after said sector has beenswung by the coin, and a second toothed wheel carried by said second named pawl and being adapted to disengage said second named pawl from said sector when said stem is rotating in the reverse direction.

CHARLES MALOUF. NICHOLAS MALOUE. 

